Principal Operations Engineer (Application Software)

About the role

SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.

PRINCIPAL OPERATIONS ENGINEER, APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Do you want to be part of the team that builds the software SpaceX uses to design, build, launch, and operate rockets and satellites? Do you want to help Application Software scale as the company grows in launch rate, complexity, sites, compute, and acquisitions? Do you want to work with SpaceX leadership, take on nebulous problems with no obvious owner, and turn them into future-looking strategy the org can actually run?

As the Principal Operations Engineer for ASW, you will do all of these. The Application Software team is looking for a dedicated individual to directly support the ASW executive team through growth strategy, AOP / capital and headcount planning, building a site activation plan, and many other strategic and tactical problems. This person must be able to help with tactical planning that unblocks fast-paced software delivery while simultaneously informing long-term, robust strategies for how ASW grows with the company — across Corporate Functions, Launch and Missions, Flight Software, Supply Chain and Logistics, and Enterprise / Applied AI. You will take the poorly scoped, future-looking questions — what ASW should look like at the next order of magnitude — and drive them to a point of view, a plan, an owner, and accountability of seeing the plan through. This is not a slide-only job: when a plan is blocked on a tool, a rack, or a missing integration, you get your hands dirty and contribute to the software or hardware build yourself.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Run the Application Software (ASW) operating cadence with the director and leadership team: weekly/monthly rhythm, decision log, and the staff plan that matches company demand to teams

- Own the ASW AOP (headcount, opex, capex, vendors) from bottoms-up inputs through Finance review, in-year change control, and AOP-vs-actuals

- Own the M&A playbook and execute integrations: diligence on people, software, vendors, and data; day-1 / 30 / 100 cutover; keep vs. rewrite vs. retire; where acquired teams land

- Own site activation for ASW: coverage model, local intake/support, hiring, a go-live plan aligned to first hardware, first shift, or first customer

- Own compute and hardware capacity: CPU/GPU/storage forecast; server-rack layout, power, cooling, and floor space with IT/facilities

- Redesign intake, prioritization, and SLAs so work enters ASW through one process — not a different path per team, site, or acquired org

- Tackle nebulous, multi-org problems with no playbook yet; pull a future-looking ASW growth strategy (org, sites, platforms, compute) out of ambiguity and drive it to a decision

- Get hands-on where it unblocks the plan: write software, land an integration, rack and cable hardware, bring up a server row, or join a site/hardware build until it is actually live